Taps freeze in Shimla as Himachal shivers

The cold wave intensified in most parts of shivering Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, with Shimla experiencing its coldest night of the season on Saturday.

Water in taps in residential areas located in Shimla's US Club and Jakhu hills remained frozen throughout the day due to the extreme cold. Snowfall and rain on Saturday pulled down the temperature to a stinging minus 3.3 degrees in Shimla. The capital saw 5 cm of snow too on Saturday.

However, flights in and out of the state resumed after a day's gap even though delays were reported. "The night temperature in Shimla fell by 1.6 degrees from Saturday's 1.7 degrees. For the first time this season, the night temperature nose-dived this low," a weather official said.

The maximum temperature of the town settled at 6.7 degrees. Vehicular traffic also remained disrupted in upper Shimla for the second day on Sunday.

A government spokesperson said that no state run bus has been plying in upper Shimla since Saturday evening as a large number of vehicles were stuck in snow between Kufri and Narkanda. "The traffic is likely to restore by Monday afternoon," he said.

Kufri and Narkanda saw good spells of snow in the past two days, the Met office said.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district saw 10.6 cm of snow, whereas Manali in Kullu district, Dalhousie in Chamba district and McLeodganj in Kangra district got moderate snow. The Rohtang Pass (13,050 feet) and the Baralacha Pass (16,020 ft) -- located on the Manali-Leh highway --experienced heavy snowfall.

Keylong in Lahaul Spiti district, which saw 7 cm of snow, was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 12.7 degrees Celsius.

The resort town of Kalpa recorded a minimum temperature of minus 9 degrees Celsius, while it was 0.2 degrees in Bhuntar and minus 0.2 degrees in Dharamsala.

Met officials said the entire tribal belt in Kinnaur, Lahaul Spiti, Kullu and Chamba districts witnessed heavy snowfall in the past two days. Widespread rainfall was also reported across the mid and lower hills.

Kumarsen in Shimla district recorded the maximum rain of 37 mm.

The weather forecast said the western disturbances -- storm systems originating from Caspian Sea in the Central Asia and moving across the Afghanistan-Pakistan region -- had almost receded from the region and the weather would remain dry in the next few days.